Foreword Online

Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers



An Instagram Plan: Engaging Your Audience

Posted by Liz Schulte on 8/3/18 5:30 AM

Welcome to part two of our Instagram Plan. Last week we talked about why Instagram is a great addition to your marketing social media platform and what kind of content will attract an audience to your page. It is through this content that you will connect with not only students, but faculty, staff and alumni as well. Becoming an everyday part of their lives gives you the opportunity to turn those connections into sales. This week the focus will be on engaging your campus community and marketing your store events in a way that makes people excited to participate.

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An Instagram Plan: Creating Content More People Want

Posted by Liz Schulte on 8/2/18 5:30 AM

Social media marketing offers a variety of platforms to engage with customers, but with that comes a variety of challenges. On Facebook it is hard to be seen, on Twitter you are limited to 140 characters and on Snapchat you only get 10 seconds to make a lasting impression. Instagram is different. Your followers will see your posts, your caption can be as long as you need it to be and the images never go away. This is why Instagram dominates all social media when it comes to interactions per thousand followers.

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App-y Hour: Arm Your Students with a Custom Mobile Toolbox

Posted by Liz Schulte on 8/1/18 8:30 AM

Need a map? Music? Guided meditation? A budget? To know which bar around you is offering the cheapest drinks? There’s an app for that. Phones have become the unnatural extension of our arms for a good reason: there is a world of information within our grasp. There is an app for almost everything imaginable, but which apps can help a college student manage their busy lives?

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Innovate Customer Experience Without Breaking the Budget

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/30/18 5:30 AM

Improving the customer experience doesn’t have to include investing money on a store redesign or flashy events. In fact, there is a fairly easy solution. Customers want shopping to be easier. Sometimes, shoppers simply want to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible.

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How to Optimize Your Social Media Reach

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/26/18 5:30 AM

The intricacies of social media can make even the most stalwart of fans sigh. There is an art to figuring out how to craft a social media post that will sound genuine, yet still perform well in the algorithms that determine a post’s reach. Today, we’re going to discuss how to maximize your social media reach and engagement to drive more students into your store and build trust.

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Linked Together

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/24/18 5:30 AM

We don’t talk a lot about LinkedIn. It is not a platform designed to connect retail to customers. If you were looking for information on a big sale your favorite store was having, LinkedIn wouldn’t be your first choice — or even your fifth choice. Chances are, you’d never turn to the site. While it is not a natural fit for marketing your college store to students, there is still benefit to being active on the site. Here are three ways LinkedIn can help you grow professionally.

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Augmented Reality in Retail

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/23/18 5:30 AM

You walk into a clothing store, but instead of racks of clothing in various sizes, there is only one piece of each product carefully displayed with holographic touchscreens next to each item that allow you to see the shirt, dress, jeans from all angles, in different colors and styles. With a few taps on the screen your selection will be made. Inside the dressing room, you open the wardrobe and your clothing is waiting for you, along with another screen where you can easily change sizes or colors. Again, the clothing you select appears in the closet like magic.

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Include Food

Posted by Lori Reese on 7/19/18 5:30 AM

Salty, sweet or protein-rich: food is guaranteed to drive students into your store morning, noon and night.

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Going Live Part Two

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/18/18 5:30 AM

Now that you already have a plan for Going Live, we are going to dig a little deeper into the type of material that your customers might find interesting. Today we’ll cover how to format your videos so they still have the spontaneity of a live video without losing the message to your audience.

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Going Live Part One

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/17/18 5:30 AM

There is no denying that live streaming is the newest social media craze. It is available on all the major platforms. Everyone from your friends to celebrities are doing it, but how can your business use live videos to increase website and store traffic?

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